Bath-tub support



July 31, 1962 H. A. HOLBERSON BATH-TUB SUPPORT Filed Jan. 50, 1962 IIIIIIIIII'IIIII ll g Illlllll,

INVENTOR HEN RY A. HOLBERSON United States ate 3,046,568 BATH-TUB SUEPORT Henry A. Holberson, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Jan. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 169,741 Claims. (Cl. 4-486) This invention is directed to the provision of improved supporting means for bath-tubs more especially of the so-called porcelain enameled metal type which though formed separately from the tub may be readily assembled therewith for installation in a bath-room or the like.

Many bath-tub assemblies comprise a relatively deep somewhat elongated tub or sump for the bath water surrounded in whole or in part by an outwardly projecting integral flange, a substantially fiat sheet or apron depending from the flange to hide the sump and form an attractive front facing or finish for the assembly, and supporting means extending beneath and operative to hold the tub a little above and in upright position on the floor. Customarily the apron is formed separately from the tub and appropriately attached to it at the time of installation although sometimes the tub and apron are made integral or welded together during manufacture; likewise when metal separately formed supports are employed they also usually are welded or otherwise permanently secured to the tub thus forming a unitary structure. This is objectionable, however, in that the welding often creates an uneven surface on the inside of the tub which unless ground off and polished will show in the subsequently applied enamel while the presence of the supports makes it impossible to nest the tubs one within the other, likewise generally the case if the aprons are non-detachably fixed to the tubs, which enhances the space required for storage and shipment and increases the cost of both, all of which is obviated by the present invention.

Moreover, from a production standpoint the provision of supports and an apron separable from the tub is desirable since the tub and apron only need be enameled and any defect in the coating on either does not require scrapping of the other.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a bath-tub assembly comprising a tub or sump, novel detachable supporting means therefor and an apron likewise manufacture separate from the tub and like said means adapted for ready assembly with the tub during its installation.

A further object is to provide novel detachable supporting means for an enameled metal normally curved bottom bath-tub which may be readily assembled therewith when desired without injury to the relatively frangible vitreous coating on the tub itself or the apron, if any, associated therewith, whereby a plurality of the bath-tubs and aprons can be manufactured and enameled complete and then stored or shipped as separate but nested components for ultimate assembly elsewhere.

Another object is to provide a novel bath-tub'support adapted for ready attachment to or detachment from a tub, more especially of the decorative apron type, which after installation is effective not only to afford maximum stability to the tub but of substantial effect in securing together the tub and apron in permanent assembled relation.

Still another object is the provision of a novel type of tub supporting means readily formable from sheet metal and detachably cooperative with other means carried by the tub for easy attachment to the latter whereby to afiord appropriate support thereto after the tub is installed. 7

Other objects, purposes and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear or be understood Cir 3,046,568 Patented July 31, 1 962,

from the following description of a preferred embodiment of it in which reference will be had to the accompanying drawing showing in: 7

FIG. 1 a perspective view of a typical bath-tub assembly in which supports embodying the invention are utilized, and in FIG. 2 a transverse section of the assembly on a larger scale on line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary bottom plan view of structure illustrated in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section on line 44 in FIG. 2 but on the scale of FIG. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the bath-tub proper generally designated T and comprising a sump 1 of appropriate shape bounded by a peripheral flange 1' is but typical of a number of specific designs which may be employed, that shown being considered as formed from steel sheet by a drawing operation, although the tub may be of cast iron or other suitable material. The interior surface of the sump, upper face of flange 1' if any, and apron hereinafter mentioned are as usual provided with a vitreous enamel coating of any acceptable type forming no part of the invention but mentioned here to direct attention to the fact that in handling, storing and shipping, the tub and apron must be so treated as to avoid severe impact, abrasion, bending or other stress.

as coatings of this character are extremely brittle and readily damaged.

From the edge of peripheral flange l of the tub which is to face the room after installation extends a depending flange 2 to the lower edge of which an apron 3 comprising a substantially flat plate having a vitreous enamel coating at least on its outer surface is removably secured in a manner hereinafter more fully described, flange 2 and apron 3 carrying relatively narrow inturned interengaging flanges 4, 5 respectively at their meeting edges while end braces 6, 7 bolted to end flanges 8, d on the apron and depending lugs lit, 11 welded to the end flanges of the tub further stabilize the apron relatively thereto.

Also associated with the tub and apron are a plurality 1 of supports generally designated 15 each cooperative with an element fixed to the tub to attain the principal aspects of the invention; two such supports substantially identical in form and construction usually are employed Each support 15 comprises a generally V-shaped rail. 16 formed from relatively heavy sheet steel having ad-- jacent one end a pair of oppositely outwardly directed substantially parallel flanges 17, 18 on the extremities of. which are curved fingers 19, 20, the rail being provided intermediate its ends with somewhat similar flanges 21, 22 but devoid'of fingers. eral flanges desirably are shaped to conform to the configuration of the bottom of sump 1 which they engage I when disposed to support the tub while fingers 19,:20' then then snugly received in apertures 23, 24 in a-plate 25 welded or otherwise fixed at its 'ends'to said bottom,

and shaped to afford intermediate said ends a clearance or passage through which the fingers may be entered from one edge of the plate when the rail is disposed at a sufiicient angle to the sump bottom preparatory to homing the fingers in apertures 23, 24 by swinging the rail toward the tub until its outwardly directed flanges engage it, as best shown in FIG. 2.

The other end of the rail after assembly with the tub and apron preferably extends to engagement with the in-' 7 turned bottom edge flange 26 of the latter and has a hole The upper surfaces of these sev- 27 near its extremity through which a tab 28 integral with the apron flange is entered primarily to index the support and apron in proper relation.

Plate 25 is shown as slightly distorted adjacent apertures 23, 24 which facilitates snug retention in the latter of the fingers, but a different conformation may be utilized if preferred, and while I have indicated at 29 in the center of the plate a struck-up dimple to accurately space the plate from the tub it may not be necessary if the means securing the ends of the plate to the tub are adequate and the plate of sufficient rigidity to resist deformation it the dimple be omitted.

Plates 25 are usually welded or otherwise fixed to the under side of the sump before its interior and peripheral flange or, if preferred, the entire tub is coated with vitreous enamel (in the latter case the plates will usually be similarly coated as well) and when assembled with the tub each rail provides a plurality of flanges presenting surfaces engaging the under side of the sump with clearances between adjacent ones-to accommodate whatever curvature the bottom may have, while the interlocking of tabs 28 with the outer ends of the supports helps to retain the apron, tub and supports firmly locked together.

Some mention has been made of the manner of attachment of apron 3 to the depending front flange 2 of the tub which more particularly in the embodiment shown contemplates provision in the inturned flange 4 on flange 2 of the tub of a series of spaced holes 30 disposed to receive a correspondingly spaced series of small tongues 31 bent up from apron flange 5, although if preferred holes may be provided in the apron flange for receiving tongues formed from the tub flange; adjacent the ends of these two flanges bolts 32 carrying nuts 33 and extended through registering holes in the latter retain the flanges in face to face contact.

In assembling the various parts preparatory to installation of the tub the latter preferably first is inverted to facilitate engagement of supports with plates and after the former have been seated against the bottom of the sump the apron is placed in position with tongues 31 engaging in holes and tabs 28 in holes 27; bolts and nuts 33 are then set up and braces 6, 7 attached thus forming a single unitary structure which can readily be handled and installed.

Since the rails and apron, if any, are not permanently fixed to the tub in the course of manufacture the latter has no bulky projections on its exterior so that a plurality of the tubs can be nested together with suitable cushioning material disposed between adjacent ones to protect their enamel coatings and a plurality of aprons, likewise protected, palletized or otherwise packed together in a minimum space for storage or shipment. End braces 6, 7 and supports 15 are usually not enameled and so require less care in handling and may be bundled together in packages of minimum size and secured to the pallets if desired, while the freedom from complicated fastening devices enables the components to be rapidly and easily operatively associated preliminary to installation of the entire bath-tub assembly.

While I have herein described a preferred embodiment of the invention with considerable particularity and suggested some possible modifications I do not desire thereby to be limited or confined in any way as other changes in the form, structure, arrangement and relationship of the several elements employed will readily occur to those 6 skilled in the art and may be utilized if desired without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. In combination with a bath-tub providing a sump and having a depending flange paralleling one of its edges, a decorative apron associated therewith, an elongated supporting element extending transversely beneath the tub comprising spaced outwardly projecting flanges engaging the bottom of the sump portion thereof, an end engaging the apron and a finger proximate the other end, a member fixed to the tub adjacent said other end of the element having an aperture removably receiving said finger, the first end of the element being secured to the apron remote from the sump, and means removably attaching an edge of th apron to said depending flange.

2. in combination, a bath-tub providing a sump and having a depending flange proximate one of its edges, a substantially flat sheet metal apron secured to said flange and supporting means for the tub comprising a plurality of sheet metal elements each presenting spaced surfaces engaging and extending transversely of the bottom of the sump and an end engaging and secured to the apron, and means fixed to the bottom of the sump providing an aperture respectively receiving the other end of each element.

3. in combination with a bath-tub providing a sump, a plate fixed to the outer surface of the bottom of the sump and in part spaced therefrom to define a passage between it and said bottom and having spaced apertures intersecting the passage, a sheet metal rail extending transversely of the tub beneath the sump having at one end curved ears respectively engaging in said apertures to lock the rail against substantial movement relatively to the tub when in contact with its bottom but removable from the tub when swung outwardly therefrom sufliciently to permit disengagement of the fingers from the apertures.

4. In combination with a bath-tub providing a sump, an element fixed to the outer surface of the bottom of the sump shaped between its extremities to form a clearance between it and the bottom and having spaced apertures communicating with said clearance, and a raillike element substantially V-shaped in cross section extending transversely of and contacting the bottom having spaced fingers proximate one end respectively engaged in said apertures, said last mentioned element detachable from the tub and fixed element upon withdrawal of the fingers from the apertures.

5. Supporting means for a bath-tub comprising a pair of cooperative elements one adapted for permanent attachment to the bottom of the tub, and having an aperture and a rail-like element having at one end a curved finger designed to enter and thence extend into the aperture when the rail is in supporting position beneath and extending substantially transversely of the tub after introduction of the finger to the aperture with the rail in angular relation to said bottom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,122,247 Coordes June 28, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 444,911 Great Britain Mar. 31, 1936 

